


War is Over, Another's Just Begun

by lonlygnome



Series: At the Heart of Change [1]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - WWII, Divorce, F/M, alternate univers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 14:16:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1094914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonlygnome/pseuds/lonlygnome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leonard went to war to save others, but he fought to come home for them. Thing is three years changes a lot for all of them. He doesn't know his daughter, and Jocelyn doesn't know him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	War is Over, Another's Just Begun

**Author's Note:**

> Don't own trek.
> 
> Unbeta'd all mistakes are my own.

They’re not there when he gets of the ship.  
 _I survived the war._  
 _I get to meet my daughter._  
It doesn’t bug him. Not as he watches others greet their wives, kids, sweethearts.  
 _They knew he was coming._  
 _Right?_  
They’re not outside to greet him either and he slowly walks up the steps.  
 _“… not writing …” “Jo’s asking about you….” “I miss you…._  
 _“I’ll be home soon.”_  
“Joce?” His voice is hoarse, tired, but he can’t bring himself to just walk inside.  
The sound of sharp whispers and the backdoor opening and shutting.  
“Joce?” It’s a bit more questioning as he starts to turn back down the steps.  
“Len? Oh god, Len you’re home!”  
He’s got an armful of happy wife and a daughter watching shyly from the door. He can let the worries rest.  
\-------------------------  
Its awkward being back home. Though what should he have expected? He’s always waiting for the shoe to drop, someone to order him to get his ass to the med tent. There never is. He’s free to do as he pleases and that makes his response to a car back firing even worse.  
“Stay down!” he calls as he jumps to cover his daughter with his body. Jocelyn runs in from the other room and quickly moves to extract their shaking daughter from under him.  
“Jo? You alright?” she asks frantically pulling her daughter close. “Oh thank god.”  
The girl’s shaking slightly and embraces her mother before sparring a glance over her shoulder, “Mama? What’s wrong with him?”  
Leonard is face down, stiff, forcing himself to breath when Joce looks over at him. “Jo,” she says softly, “Go find something to play with. Give your daddy and I a few moments.” Their daughter is already peeling out of her arms but instead of doing as told she moves towards the man momma kept saying was father (he wasn’t father, the other man was father, the other man she’d seen once since he’d come). “Jo, go.” She spares one more look at the man on the floor before nodding mutely and walking out of the room, barely catching the “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”  
Jo sees the other man more often after that.  
\----------------------------  
“It’s been almost a year Len. Don’t you think you could, I don’t know, get a job?”  
They’re sitting at the table drinking coffee and he wasn’t running on enough sleep for that question.  
“I tried that, it didn’t work out.”  
“Didn’t work out?” She huffs in disbelieve, “You wouldn’t follow basic procedures.”  
He barely avoids dropping his head into his hands with a sigh, “Three years is hard to break.”  
“Then do something different! I’m not going to be the soul supporter of our daughter.”  
So it wasn’t about them anymore was it?  
“I got my MD out of that hell hole! I’m not giving up on that.”  
“Len, you need to stop thinking about yourself.”  
“Joce,” his voice drops to just over a whisper, “I spent three years thinking about anyone but myself.”  
He’s not surprised when she gets up with a huff and walks out of the house.  
\-----------------------------  
Len finds a bottle of something that Joce hadn’t dumped down the sink and stares at it for a while. Just as he’s about to pour himself a proper glass there’s a soft knock on the door and he freezes. No one should be calling. Joce is at work, Jo’s at a friend’s (something that’s nearly constant and he prefers to ignore) and no one ever calls on him. Not anymore. At first he debates pretending no one’s home but the knocking is persistent and finally he stands up and moves slowly to the front of the house.  
“Whoever it is you want, they’re out,” he grunts opening the door open a crack.  
“And how would you know that old man?”  
Leonard swings the door open quickly and stares dumbly at the man on his porch for a few minutes.  
“Ah come on Bones, really think I wouldn’t hunt you down?”  
“Jim? Christ…”  
The Captain doesn’t have any time to respond before Bones was pulling him into a hug.  
\--------------------------  
“What do you mean you’ve got a job?”  
“I mean I got a job, isn’t that what you wanted?”  
“No! I wanted my Leonard back! He wouldn’t suddenly have a job after a stranger shows up out of the blue!”  
“He’s not a stranger! He’s my friend.”  
“Ya, a friend from the war. Who knows where his true loyalties lie.”  
“War doesn’t destroy them as you seem to think.”  
“I beg to differ. Seeing as you’re a prime example!”  
This time by the time it’s over Leonard is the one to march out of the house without looking back.  
\--------------------  
“Clay, I’ll talk to him. But please, just go.”  
“Okay, I love you. Keep an eye on Jo.”  
“When don’t I?”  
Leonard comes around the corner just in time to see them kiss goodbye and he freezes.  
 _“I can’t handle this anymore. Are you coming?”_  
 _“Jim, I can’t be running. I have a daughter, a wife, you wouldn’t understand.”_  
This leaves a gaping hole in his chest. He’d fought to get back here. Back in one piece. There she was, talking like she’d never be coming back.  
Clay turns to walk out of the house and freezes when he spots Len standing at the doorway. They study each other in silence for a few moments before Leonard turns his back and walks away. It’s not a surprise when Joce doesn’t call for him to come back. He could have seen this coming if he weren’t so caught up in his own issues. Maybe she was right, maybe he did need to start worrying more about the others.  
Its late evening when he returns. Drunk and wishing the war had proved more challenging. There’s a bag sitting on the steps for him and Len drops to the ground next to it. He reads the note slowly, not being able to keep back tears. He’d done this for them, he’d gone out there for others but he’d come back for them.  
Did he even know how to do something for himself?

**Author's Note:**

> My first foray into writing period au's so thoughts are appreciated.


End file.
